In the month dedicated to financial education (www.quellocheconta.gov.it), we propose a Tech Day focus on alternative finance instruments for SMEs. In line with the current European framework, the market of alternative finance in Italy is showing a growing trend, but the potentialities which it offers are not yet fully exploited. There is a real network of alternative instruments to the usual credit bank which in recent years have undoubtedly brought benefits to SMEs in terms of time and access to the capital, but also in terms of increased competitiveness and market visibility. Considering the impacts of the recent COVID-19 sanitary emergency on the market, it is important to spread knowledge about these issues, which could become a real resource for SMEs.
Moderator: Giancarlo Giudici, School of Management del Politecnico di Milano
11:30 Introduction – Gianmarco Paglietti, Innexta Consorzio Camerale Credito e Finanza
Bringing the SMEs and the entrepreneurships closer to the innovative finance also means explaining the digital tools and joining the system projects that the Italian Chambers of commerce system are developing. Specifically, Innexta is creating various initiatives, online as well, aiming to spread fintech tools, their use habits, and their integration with the business’ ordinary financial management.
11:45 Alternative Finance Opportunities for SMEs in Italy – Giancarlo Giudici, School of Management del Politecnico di Milano
The talk will deal with the evolution and size of the Italian market for SME alternative finance (minibond, direct lending, invoice trading, private equity, crowdfunding, crypto-assets).
12:00 The Private Capital Market for SMEs – Giovanni Fusaro, AIFI associazione italiana private equity venture capital e private debt
The private capital market is aimed at supporting the financing of SMEs. The presentation analyses the main characteristics of private equity, venture capital and private debt and shows the statistics of the Italian market, with reference to fundraising, investments and divestments/reimbursements.
12.15 Fintech and Future Opportunities – Alessandro Lerro, Lerro & Partners
The European Union has disclosed its fintech strategy for the next years. New regulations will be approved in several new areas that need a quick action at European level (i.e. the Crowdfunding Regulation for Business). But also heavy regulated areas shall be modified in order to offer a more adequate approach to fintech needs (i.e. data protection, anti money laundering, consumer protection).
12:30 Tech Day Interlude
13:30 Matchmaking Talk: Practical Guidance for SMEs
Giovanpaolo Arioldi, Opstart – A company needs a different financial asset in every step of its lifetime. From equity crowdfunding to lending crowdfunding, from minibond to crypto assets: Opstart is evolving in Crowdbase, a unique platform which offers to companies the proper solution to their financial needs, according to their phase of growth. On the other hand, Investors can diversify their portfolio on more industries, more assets and more companies. All of this, in one single platform.
Giovannella Condò, Milano Notai studio notarile associato – How to prepare for equitycrowdfunding portals. She will go into the details of the drafting of a statute and its clauses. The structure of the capital increase resolution and share categories will be discussed.
Giovanni Cucchiarato, DWF – Main regulatory provisions that an entrepreneur should take into consideration before deciding to finance its company through the launch of a public offering (of equity or debt financial instruments) on an authorised crowdfunding portal. The relevant regulation provides, for example, specific requisites, protections for retail investors, but also potential advantages deriving from exceptions to certain general rules, that the prospective issuer should know and evaluated in advance.
Leonardo Frigiolini, F&P Merchant – The minibond as a synthesis of the paradigm “Channeling Italian households’ savings towards the real economy”. The system of public and private guarantees and the attractiveness for the new classes of investors identified by Consob.
Leonardo Grechi, Walliance – Crowdfunding as a support tool for the construction chain: an alternative channel of simple, immediate and transparent financing and an effective and efficient communication and marketing channel.
Niccolò Sovico, Ener2Crowd – Niccolò will talk about how the lending crowdfunding tool can allow any person to take action and act to reduce CO2 emissions and how a company can gather consensus through a campaign involving local communities. The economic and environmental benefits of an investment made on the Ener2Crowd platform will also be highlighted.
15:00 Tech Day Closure
Biography
Gianmarco Paglietti
With a Political Science Degree, he accomplished the Diploma at the European College of Parma Foundation. From 2008 to 2016 he organized the research department for the Consortium of the Italian Chambers of commerce for fintech and alternative finance, developing experimental projects about SME’s innovative finance tools, minibond and crowdfunding. He is now the project coordinator at Innexta, working on fintech and alternative finance for SMEs.
Giancarlo Giudici
He is associate professor of corporate finance at Politecnico di Milano. He belongs to the faculty of MIP Graduate School of Business where he teaches Finance. He wrote several publications on domestic and international journals on the topics of entrepreneurship, corporate financing, listings and IPOs, venture capital and crowdfunding. He is the director of the Italian Observatories on Mini-Bond and Crowdinvesting at Politecnico di Milano, School of Management. He led several projects finances by public and private entities on the topics of competitiveness and firm financing.
Giovanni Fusaro
He is a research analyst at AIFI, the Italian Private Equity, Venture Capital and Private Debt Association, and his main task is providing statistics and analyses on the Italian private capital market. He is in charge of AIFI’s Venture Capital Committee and the website VentureUp and he is active at the European Database Cooperative Project, an initiative aimed at developing pan-European private equity and venture capital statistics.
Alessandro M. Lerro
He is an Italian attorney who has been advising for more than 25 years in innovation and new technologies, matching a deep expertise in both intellectual property and finance. Chairman of the Italian Equity Crowdfunding Association, and of the Scientific Committee of AssoFintech, Lerro is one of the most well known crowdfunding experts in the world and a leading European lawyer in this area. He is an appreciated international speaker, lecturer and writer in Italian and English about innovation and crowdfunding.
Giovanpaolo Arioldi
Pilot Cadet in the Airforce Academy at first, Giovanpaolo Arioldi has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. He has worked as Financial Promoter since 2004 and then as Financial Advisor, with over 400 expert reports for bank and financial litigation management procedures. Giovanpaolo is co-founder and vice-president in Assofintech; co-founder and general manager in Opstart.
Giovannella Condò
She is Milano Notai co-founder, mainly deals with company law and banking and project finance operations. She assists companies, investment banks, private equity funds and venture capital, financial institutions, start-ups and innovative SMEs in every phase of consultancy, with an emphasis on bond issues, mini bonds, project bonds and equity instruments, equity crowdfunding , governance structures and debt restructuring.
Giovanni Cucchiarato
He is Partner and Head of the Fintech and Insurtech Department (as well as of the German Desk) of the Italian branch of the international law firm DWF. He has over 15 years of experience as corporate/M&A legal advisor (mostly provided to international clients) and he is also recognised for his expertise in the fintech sector, concerning in particular alternative finance instruments, such as investment-based crowdfunding and applications of the blockchain technology in the financial markets.
Leonardo Frigiolini
Born in 1959, he graduated in Economics and has a Master’s degree in Finance and Insurance. He began his career as an Officer of the Carabinieri, then moved on to Credito Italiano and later worked in Promoters’ Networks, creating Fineco’s North-West Sardinia network in 2000. In 2009 he created Unicasim spa, and in 2015 Frigiolini & Partners Merchant, leader in the Minibond segment. He is currently also CEO of Fundera srl, a crowdfunding portal authorized by Consob also for the placement of minibonds.
Leonardo Grechi
Born in 1990, he is Head of Development of Walliance, the main platform in Italy dedicated to the real estate market, and he has been following the activities since its launch in 2017. Today he is also responsible for coordinating the country managers for what concerns international expansion of the company. Previously he worked in Banca Widiba where he won the gold medal in the “Financial Advisors Awards” competition for the category “Credit and financing instruments”.
Niccolò Elia Sovico
He is the Director of the company Ener2Crowd S.r.l., the first Italian crowdlending platform for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Graduated in Energy and Nuclear Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino and study experience in the United States, he worked for two Energy Service Companies of primary importance in the Italian scene. Here he managed E.P.C. (Energy Performance Contract) with large multinational industries.